Katya Ev I Augenmusik, performance

Augenmusik (re-enactment)

live performance, streets of Turnhout (Be)

2021

Commissioned by the performance festival Stormopkomst, De Warande, Turnhout (Be)

courtesy of Katya Ev

ph wedocumentart

images (c) Katya Ev & Stormopkomst

Performers: 5

Carried object: police flashing light,

Location: streets of Turnhout, Belgium

Duration: 1h 30min

Route(s):From four starting points in Turnhout to De Warande (cultural center hosting the festival)

Length of route(s): 1km to 1,5 km

Travel time(s): 20min to 35min

Direct viewers: estimated over 350

The live performance Augenmusik

has expanded into a homologue body of works, sharing the same title (2016/2021) incl. re-performances, videos, photographs, installation, print editions etc.

Katya Ev, Augenmusik (re-enactment), streets of Turnhout, 2021 - map of routes

Credits:

Casting, direction: Katya Ev

Production: Katya Ev

Performers: Katya Ev & Alexandra Leroy, Melanie Weill, Emilie Worm, Jean Pletinkx

"A strong signifier of state power and a signal of danger, in Ev’s performance the police emergency light is taken over by the performers, thereby shifting power metaphorically to the people. Entering through the strategic defence points of the city, the performers converged on the historical “Belly of Paris,” referring to the ancient Greek understanding of the market square as a space for practicing direct democracy. The polyphonic texture of Bach’s composition served as a metaphor for the political equality of voices, as opposed the contemporary understanding of democracy which reduces this polyphony to the single voice of the majority. The performance triggered a strong reaction that revealed the sense of panic, hostility and aggression between the police and the city inhabitants. Katia Krupennikova, "On the performance Augenmusik", 2018 >> full version